Spironolactone: Need Advice Regarding Dosage! (Picture Included)

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Hey! I've been taking 75 mgs of Spironolactone for over six months now, and while I've *definitely* made progress, I still occasionally break out. Another thing I've noticed is that I've experienced no true decrease in my oil production since starting Spiro, which I've read is usually the case for most people. Anyone who has ever used Sprionolactone- based on my still breaking out/my consistent oil production, would you recommend I request upping my dosage, or continue with 75 mgs? It's been 6 months!

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Congrats! You cleared a lot since your last topic! I was clear on 100mg but had tons of side effects. I lowered my dose to 75mg and the side effects mostly went away but I started breaking out again. I'm not on spiro anymore but I took it for over two years.

6 months is a good amount of time to give it to see the end results, it took 4-6 months for me to clear. I'd say if you want to be 100% clear you'll have to go up to 100mg... or try something in addition to the spiro.

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Congrats! You cleared a lot since your last topic! I was clear on 100mg but had tons of side effects. I lowered my dose to 75mg and the side effects mostly went away but I started breaking out again. I'm not on spiro anymore but I took it for over two years.

6 months is a good amount of time to give it to see the end results, it took 4-6 months for me to clear. I'd say if you want to be 100% clear you'll have to go up to 100mg... or try something in addition to the spiro.

Thanks! There's definitely been significant progress, but I feel like I reached a plateau about a month and a half ago, so there hasn't been much improvement since then. I think I'm going to ask to have the dosage upped by 25 mgs. Can I ask why you decided to stop taking spiro?

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No problem, hopefully you'll be totally clear with the increased dosage!

For me the negatives outweighed the positives when I was on spiro. After about the year mark I gained 20lbs (I went from 110lbs to 130/135lbs) without changing anything in my lifestyle and I couldn't lose it, my long thick hair started to shed like crazy, it gave me severe constipation, decreased my libido, and my skin started to look old and lost it's suppleness no matter how much I moisturized. I just didn't feel good on it after a while.

When I quit spiro, everything started returning to normal, I lost the weight rapidly, my hair stopped shedding and grew back, and the suppleness and elasticity returned to my skin.

I'm not trying to scare you off or anything! For some women it has worked great for many years (I know that another member here that goes by "Green Gables" has had great success with no side effects.) Hopefully you are one of these cases! Good luck!

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No problem, hopefully you'll be totally clear with the increased dosage!

For me the negatives outweighed the positives when I was on spiro. After about the year mark I gained 20lbs (I went from 110lbs to 130/135lbs) without changing anything in my lifestyle and I couldn't lose it, my long thick hair started to shed like crazy, it gave me severe constipation, decreased my libido, and my skin started to look old and lost it's suppleness no matter how much I moisturized. I just didn't feel good on it after a while.

When I quit spiro, everything started returning to normal, I lost the weight rapidly, my hair stopped shedding and grew back, and the suppleness and elasticity returned to my skin.

I'm not trying to scare you off or anything! For some women it has worked great for many years (I know that another member here that goes by "Green Gables" has had great success with no side effects.) Hopefully you are one of these cases! Good luck!

Ohhh gosh, I see why you stopped. I'll definitely be looking out for those side effects- I luckily haven't experienced any as of yet, fingers crossed!

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I was on 25mg and all my acne (even the most difficult stubborn clogs) and oily skin disappeared within 6 months so 100mg is definitely not the minimum effective dose. Unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positives for me too, and I had to stop taking it. I had severe hair loss, fatigue, and cotton mouth. I'm so jealous of all the people who can take it without issue!

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wow that is amazing that you had such luck on 25mg. my derm said the same thing in that all their patients take between 100-200mg. they basically told me that being on less than that wont really do anything for my cystic acne. now if your acne wasnt as severe then maybe you dont need a high of a dose or something. my skin didnt start to get better until i was on the 100mg and my derm wants me to go up to 150mg but i might go to 125mg and see if i have any issues first then go up to 150mg. that sucks that you had to stop taking it though.

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wow that is amazing that you had such luck on 25mg. my derm said the same thing in that all their patients take between 100-200mg. they basically told me that being on less than that wont really do anything for my cystic acne. now if your acne wasnt as severe then maybe you dont need a high of a dose or something. my skin didnt start to get better until i was on the 100mg and my derm wants me to go up to 150mg but i might go to 125mg and see if i have any issues first then go up to 150mg. that sucks that you had to stop taking it though.

I actually did have cystic acne and my skin starts getting oily within the hour. Perhaps it worked because I was really patient? I waited a whole 6 months before my skin was clear because the results were very gradual yet dramatic. Yaz and Yasmin also only have 25 mg of a spiro like ingredient in them and they cleared me completely as well (after 6 months), but I got the same side effects and had to stop those too. Maybe I'm just super sensitive to medications, I'm not really sure.

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My history: I am a 22 year old woman. Specifically for the past 6 years I have been getting increasingly worse acne I have it on my face, chest and back. I would say that it is moderate/severe acne on my body. The acne on my body started about six years ago too around the time I saw an immense increase in my facial acne and extremely oily skin. Oily to the point where I wipe my skin, especially by nose in particular every hour into a completely oil filled napkin. My body acne has prevented me from exercising, going out into the heat at all, and I even get uncomfortable wearing bras now because I am concerned about oil build up under the bra, etc.

I also have moderate on my face (I think it is severe but I am saying moderately comparatively to others. In this time period I have tried: Doxycycline Hyclate (200 mg/day) which cleared my face completely for over a year but at that point, it stopped working; Minocycline (200mg/day) for only a two months, and again it cleared my face completely. I have also been on topicals which I find not to be that useful in a preventitive sense. More so helpful for drying up pimples that are already formed. I also switch between extra strength proactiv and sulfur wash. I find that the proactiv dries up my skin alot and only try to use it at night. I also use Trentinoin (generic Retin-A) at night, which dries up my skin overnight but I sometimes find it to be overdrying by the morning (although I would rather my skin be too dry and not have acne).

Also, previously my face acne is usually anywhere from my cheeks to my temples. I almost never get breakouts on my forehead or elsewhere on my face except maybe near my eyebrows which seems to be an oily zone for me. BUT, anytime I would sweat I would break out badly on my face near my forehead or really anywhere the sweat had touched.

However, four months ago I asked my derm to switch me from Minocycline to Spironolactone for two reasons. First, I know that Minocycline, which I love, cannot last long term and I would like to be acne free on a medication I can be on long terms, and second, my body acne has never cleared and on the antibiotics by face was still extremely oily. For the first two months I took 50mg/day and now I upped by dosage myself to 75/mg.

As soon as I began Spiro my skin began to break out HORRIBLY; the worst it has ever, in my life. But I kept faith as I read hundreds of posts, but it still has not gotten better. Before I took Spiro or even antibiotics I was dealing with maybe one or two total very red eraser sized pimples on my cheeks and some on my T-zone. I now am getting three or four on each lower cheek which are bigger, now a little bigger than the size of a pencil eraser, and my skin is never clear. My face is still never clear and worse than it is ever been. I am extremely upset at age 22 I want my life back. I want to feel beautiful again, so I'm asking anyone who has experience....

At month four, should I stick with it and try to get on a higher dosage even though it doesn't seem to be working at all and actually making my acne worse?; Should I ask my derm to also go on minocycline and up by dosage? Or should I stop taking spiro and go back to mino and look for another alternative medicine.

Also, for those who stopped taking spire, what did you find that worked better for you? I am willing to try anything.

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i was on spiro for about 8 weeks and my face was a mess so i begged for keflex and it cleared up my cystic acne in 3 days. it was so bad i had 22 cortisone shots before i went on the keflex. i was taking 500mg twice a day and then am now down to 500mg once a day and then am slowly going to wean off it in the next month. i am a little over 5 months now on the spiro but i also use thayers non alcohol toner for the morning, proactiv toner with glycolic acid for evening and benzaclin as well. i have been clear for a while on this regimen. i also take 100mg of spiro everyday. i think you should ask to up the spiro and then see about adding an antibiotic for a while until the spiro kicks in. good luck to you!

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"This medication isn't a first line of defense against acne breakouts. It is only effective against acne caused by hormonal fluctuations. But it can be especially helpful for women with hormonal disorders that trigger acne or who suffer with other problems, like unwanted facial hair."

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"For me the negatives outweighed the positives when I was on spiro. After about the year mark I gained 20lbs (I went from 110lbs to 130/135lbs) without changing anything in my lifestyle and I couldn't lose it, my long thick hair started to shed like crazy, it gave me severe constipation, decreased my libido, and my skin started to look old and lost it's suppleness no matter how much I moisturized. I just didn't feel good on it after a while." Hearts

To hearts:

I'm so glad to hear that I'm not going crazy + that someone else had these horrible side effects! I start accutane in 2 weeks and have stopped taking spiro as of today. I've only been on it for 3 months, but the initial breakout lasted for 2 whole months of I'm talking severe severe way worse than my skin was before I started taking spiro, acne. My facial skin has sagged, my eyes are puffy in the mornings, red bags under my eyes, I've gained weight in my hips and thighs, generally feel full body bloat, and just look aged. Nothing else had changed in my lifestyle except for the spiro. So glad u posted ur side effects here. I hate spiro. Didn't work for me, made me look weathered + old. I hope I start to appear normal again. :/

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"For me the negatives outweighed the positives when I was on spiro. After about the year mark I gained 20lbs (I went from 110lbs to 130/135lbs) without changing anything in my lifestyle and I couldn't lose it, my long thick hair started to shed like crazy, it gave me severe constipation, decreased my libido, and my skin started to look old and lost it's suppleness no matter how much I moisturized. I just didn't feel good on it after a while." Hearts

To hearts:

I'm so glad to hear that I'm not going crazy + that someone else had these horrible side effects! I start accutane in 2 weeks and have stopped taking spiro as of today. I've only been on it for 3 months, but the initial breakout lasted for 2 whole months of I'm talking severe severe way worse than my skin was before I started taking spiro, acne. My facial skin has sagged, my eyes are puffy in the mornings, red bags under my eyes, I've gained weight in my hips and thighs, generally feel full body bloat, and just look aged. Nothing else had changed in my lifestyle except for the spiro. So glad u posted ur side effects here. I hate spiro. Didn't work for me, made me look weathered + old. I hope I start to appear normal again.

No problem at all, that's why I post here. I'm sure spiro works for some, but it's definitely not for everyone. I'm very hopeful for your body and skin to return to normal as mine did... it only took a month or two. Good luck with your skin and getting clear! (:

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I've been on spirolactone for almost a month now and my face breakout has been worse than ever. I have cystic acne all around my jawline with some white heads and feels inflamed. I'm using cetaphil and moisturizer everyday but I feel like its just getting worse. I really don't want my face to be like this next month but idk if there's anything I can do to help it...any recommendations?

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my face was really bad when i first started spiro and each time my dose was upped i would get another really bad breakout. i started using a toner everyday after cleansing and was amazed at how dirty the cotton ball was so i know using the toner really helps as well as i used benzaclin twice a day too. if its really bad you can ask for antibiotics i am sure the derm can call some in for you as well. good luck with everything!

also i never had any luck with cetaphil products have you always used that stuff? i use hylunia products because they are all natural so you could try them if you want but they arent cheap.

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That's good the toner helped you! I asked my derm about getting toner right after I had gotten some and she said it could be the worst thing for your skin. I thought that was odd because every time I read something about skincare they say to use one to get the excess makeup or buildup off the skin. She also said if my face feels like there's still buildup to use with ivory soap which I don't like that idea because it would make my face really dry...and then probably oilier. So I'm glad you told me that and about the cetaphil because I feel like that's what causing irritation too. I will look into that face wash. Where do you get it from?

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wow that is so strange that your derm would say that to you. how crazy! i got a facial a while ago and the aesthetician that did it told me again about using a toner and said how it gets all the makeup and dead skin off the face and she was so right. i think that was probably what my face needed a long long time ago. that is strange she mentioned the ivory soap as well because soap is so bad for your skin. i do like thayers non-alcohol witch hazel toner because its cheap and does the job but my favorite is the proactiv toner with glycolic acid and witch hazel in it.

you can buy hylunia products here. they arent cheap but you will have them for a long time. i like the cleansing gel and the moisturizer as well as the reconstructive cream. i found out about them from my last derm since they are all natural and wont harm the skin.

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Yupp and that's why I'm kind of unsure about my derm. It's been driving me crazy not using any type of toner because I feel like with this hormonal breakout I'm also getting more clogged pores which doesn't help. Do you get the salyclic gel cleanser?

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no, i used to use the salicylic acid cleanser every other day and then i switched to twice a day every day and it was too much for me. i got contact dermatitis from it so now i just use the gel cleanser. its my fault though i tried a different kind of salicylic acid cleanser in the past and had issues with it so i should have never tried another one. the gel cleanser works great though and doesnt dry out my skin.

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that is strange she mentioned the ivory soap as well because soap is so bad for your skin. i do like thayers non-alcohol witch hazel toner because its cheap and does the job

I love Thayer's Witch Hazel (I use the one with lavender) too! It's super gentle, cleans, helps with any inflammation, and tightens my pores. I've used witch hazel (a few types) on indented scars and have seen a lot of improvement, as well. I can't even imagine it being bad for your skin.

I can't use regular soaps like Ivory at all... they dry me out like CRAZY and irritate my skin.

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